Traces of the architectural heritage of the Jews in Zrenjanin: exhibition catalog

Jevrejska opština Zrenjanin imala je čast da ovom izložbom predstavi deo graditeljskog nasleđa jevrejske zajednice koja je, od svog naseljavanja u Veliki Bečkerek do stradanja u užasnom zločinu zvanom Holokaust 1941. godine, dala veliki doprinos kulturnom, privrednom i ekonomskom napretku grada. Veoma mali broj preživelih Jcvreja i potomaka stradalih Jevreja osnovali su, nakon rata, Jevrejsku opštinu Zrenjanin, koja nastoji da očuva sećanje na jevrejsku zajednicu i na njen značaj u periodu oblikovanja građanskog društva u ovoj sredini. Nije bilo lako opredeliti se za oblast koja bi se prikazala povodom Dana jevrejske evropske kulture 2017. godine, kojoj je tema ״Dijaspora“, jer su Jevreji svojim znanjem, iskustvom, preduzimljivošću, odigrali pionirsku ulogu u mnogim vidovima građanskog života ovog grada: prosveti, kulturi, zdravstvu, sportu, zabavi, trgovini, industriji i građevinarstvu. Ipak, odlučili smo se za graditeljsku baštinu, pošto ona obuhvata najočiglednije primere stanja duha i civilizacijske svesti jedne zajednice. Izvorn dokumenta o životu i radu Jevreja u Velikom Bečkereku, današnjem Zrenjaninu, uništena su tokom rata 1941-1944 godine. Velelepna sinagoga, koja je podignuta 1896. godine, uz nesebičnu pomoć pripadnika svih konfesija u gradu, srušena je već početkom rata... hiljadu i dvadeset dvoje pripadnika jevrejske zajednice odvedeno je 18. avgusta 1941. godine niz Begej i nikada se višenije vratilo u svoj grad. Posle završetka rata, ni Jevreji koji su bili sahranjeni na nekadašnjcm jevrejskom groblju nisu počivali u miru... osamdesetih godina prošlog veka pretvoreni su u "grobove koji putuju".1 Spisi i matične knjige velikobečkerečke Jevrejske verske opštine, koja je osnovana 1760. godine su uništeni. Nestali su i spisi jevrejskog pogrebnog društva Hevra Kadiša, za koje se pretpostavlja da je osnovano 1764. godine i koje je predstavljalo jednu od najstarijih institucija jevrejske zajednice. Nije sačuvana ni jedna upisnica Jevrejske više osnovne škole (1867-1900), čiji su učitelji i zgrada služili kao uzor prosvetnom kadru grada. Jedini način istraživanja podataka o životu jevrejske zajednice Velikog Bečkereka - Zrenjanina do 1941. godine je traganje za posrednim izvorima, koji se mogu naći u arhivima, muzejima i bibliotekama...Jewish Community of Zrenjanin has the honour to present this exhibition reflecting the portion of foundation heritage of the Jewish community which has greatly contributed to cultural, есоnomy and industrial development of the city since its settlement in Great Bečkerek until Holocaustin 1941. Jewish Community was revitalised in 1994 by very few surviving Jews and their descendants, aiming to preserve the memory to Jewish Community and its importance during the establishment of the civil society in this environment. It wasn't easy to opt for the field to be presented on the occasion of the Day of Jewish Еuropean Culture in 2017, with the topic ״Diaspora”, since many Jews with their knowledge, ехреriеnсе, and enterprise played a pioneering role in many aspects of the civil life of this city: education, health, sports, entertaining, trade, industry and architecture. However, we have opted for foundation heritage since it encompasses the most obvious examples of the state of spirit and civilisation consciousness of a community. The exhibition presents structures dedicated to religious, administrative оr culture- educational needs of the Jewish community in Veliki Bečkerek, as well as the most representable structures located mainly in the high street erected or re-shaped by Jewish traders representing nowadays valuable foundation heritage of the city of Zrenjanin. The importance of these buildings is attributed to the cultural heritage which is a confirmation of their values through the past. Jews were often leaders of progress and changes in the society, hence in architectural shaping - willing to embrace new art styles and they were building their houses and furnished them as реr latest fashion trends from the capital. The aim of this exhibition is to show to which extent the importance of the influence of the Jews on the formation of urban identity of the city was. The exhibition ”Traces of the Jewish Architectural Heritage in Zrenjanin" reveals so far some unknown facts about their construction activities. The subject of the research is not just about people, except when observed as builders and investors, but the buildings they have built for their religious, educational and residential needs, which left a special architectural trace to the heritage of Zrenjanin. Perhaps, even the most important fact is that they revealed their needs to demonstrate and prove through the architecture of their specificity, ethnic, religious and cultural identity. The architecture of the Zrenjanin synagogue most vividly depicted their desire to define the " Jewish style" on the territory of Vojvodina. There aren't many written sources on Jewish Architectural Heritage in this area, apart from science papers on synagogues in Vojvodina. Jews were minority however they significantly contributed to the development of architecture in Vojvodina. Behind many valuable structures, residencies, public palaces were Jewish families and their capital. Some of them have "survived" historical temptations, thus they still exist, while most of them vanished, and only their surviving old photographs, a few archive material and memories of pre-war generations gradually fading away could testify on their existence. Due to destroyed written sources, it was not an easy task to locate Jewish houses, ог to find reliable information about their property and real estates. Research in this field was possible owing great gratitude to the Land Registry in Zrenjanin, where photocopies of the deeds were obtained for almost every historical object in the old core of the city. So-called identification deeds of the plots represented the starting point of this research endeavour. It should be mentioned by all means the importance of the sources from the local newspapers form those days (Torontal and Vohemblat), which was informing the community on newly build constructions and their owners and architects, as well as preserved blueprints of certain buildings preserved in the Historical Archives of Zrenjanin